


rumour has it

by Serie11



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Cute Ending, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, POV Outsider, Rumors, Slice of Life, lets be real the valley is just one giant neverending game of chinese whispers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 20:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17029914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Jas tells Marnie tells Robin tells Lewis tells Penny tells Maru tells Sebastian tells Abigail about Abigail's dinner last week.Apparently it was a giant, monster fish.





	rumour has it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aredpen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aredpen/gifts).



It all starts when Jas comes home one day and tells Marnie that she had seen Razen acting stranger than normal around the south lake. Apparently, she’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to lay a net inside the water. Living nearby, Marnie knows that using a fishing rod has a much better chance of succeeding than a net, but Razen hadn’t asked for her opinion. When plied for details, Jas recounts Razen falling into the lake, which resulted in her finally giving up.

Armed with this new funny story, Marnie looks forward to sharing during a break in her exercise class tomorrow.

* * *

 

That Tuesday after class, Marnie laughs as she tells Jodi and Robin about Razen’s attempted fishing trip that ended in disaster. The other women smile at the tale, glad to see that the new farmer had truly settled in, even if she was still learning the ins and outs of the valley.

“I’m sure she’ll learn eventually,” Jodi chuckles. “I’d say most people in the valley know that fishing would get her better results.”

“You know, I heard there was a monstrously large fish that Demetrius spotted in that lake recently,” Robin muses. “I wonder if Razen knew about that, and that was why she was using a net?”

“A large fish?” Marnie questions. “How large?”

“More than double the size of another large fish of the same type,” Robin says sagely. “It would be quite the catch for whoever brought it in.”

The three women sit in silence for a moment, contemplating how large a fish would have to be to be considered a ‘monster’ of a fish.

* * *

 

 

Robin passes the news onto Lewis when she sees him while out walking. The mayor is understandably upset at the news of a monster fish in one of the town’s nearby lakes.

“I wonder how it even managed to get there?” Lewis muttered to himself as he walked around town, doing his normal routine of checking that nothing had happened that needed his attention in the last day. “It’s a lake, isn’t it? It would have had to grown up there… I bet it came from the sewer. I know there’s some strange things down there, but how did it manage to get into another body of water? Maybe there’s a leak somewhere that I need to address.”

Lewis walks over the bridge towards the library, still deep in thought.

* * *

 

Penny hears about the monster fish when Lewis enters the library and asks if she’s heard anything about it. Penny doesn’t normally hang around the lake, so she has to shake her head and tell the mayor that she knows nothing about it. Lewis looks concerned by her lack of knowledge, but sighs.

“If it’s only just come to my attention, then it’s likely to be quite a new threat to the valley. I’m on top of things, you know.”

“I know,” Penny says, smiling slightly. She was curious now, though. A monster fish _is_ something to be interested in, in the sedate lifestyle of the valley.

* * *

 

Penny tells Maru, and Maru spends an hour looking through the back shed of her house for her fishing rod. She’s been looking for something to study all summer, and this sounds like the perfect opportunity to get some gear out and do some firsthand information gathering. Her father would be proud. If there was a giant fish to be found, then she’s going to be the one to find that fish.

It would be helpful if she could find her fishing rod, though.

Eventually she gives up and knocks on Sebastian’s door, sticking her head in. He’s at his computer like normal, but looks up at her entrance.

“Hey, do you know where the fishing gear is?”

“The fishing gear?” he asks bemusedly. “Why do you want that? You hate fishing.”

Maru pouts at him. “I don’t _hate_ it. It’s just kind of… boring. But I’ve found something that would make it exciting!”

“And what is that?”

“There are giant fish living in the south lake,” Maru says excitedly. “Penny told her the mayor told her – and he’s a reliable source!”

“Right,” Sebastian says, sounding more like he was humouring her than anything else. “I’m pretty sure dad put the fishing stuff in the hallway closet.”

“Why would he do that,” Maru mumbles to herself as she heads towards where her brother had pointed out.

* * *

 

Sebastian tells Abigail about all the monster fish that apparently live in the southern lake, and she starts laughing so hard that tears come out of her eyes. Sebastian looks at Sam, who shrugs at him, and then both of them return to looking at Abigail.

“Are you serious?” Abigail finally catches her breath enough to ask.

“Umm… Well, Maru said that Penny told her about it, and that Lewis told Penny. So it’s been going around town that much, at least.”

“This is so funny,” Abigail says. “I guess someone must have seen Razen fishing out that big salmon that I spotted the other day. It was definitely a monster of a fish, but we managed to put it away between us.”

“Eh?” Sam asks. “You had a big fish dinner and didn’t even invite me?”

“It was a date night,” Abigail says, sticking her tongue out at him. “She made me spicy fish. It was great.”

“Ugh, I can’t believe you managed to snag the only new person to move into town in forever,” Sam moaned, putting both hands over his face and then faceplanting dramatically on the table they’re sitting at. Sebastian resists the urge to hang his own head.

“Well, it’s easy when I’ve got these amazing charms of mine,” Abigail says, grinning widely.

“What, your propensity for wandering around in the dark at night with a giant sword and eating quartz?” Sebastian asks wryly.

“Hey! My sword wielding abilities are definitely an asset,” Abigail sniffs.

“Last I checked Razen was better than you,” Sebastian points out.

“She’s just more time and freedom to explore the mines than me,” Abigail protests.

“Sure, sure,” Sebastian says, controlling his expression so he doesn’t smile.

* * *

 

“You’ll _never_ guess what Seb told me last night,” Abigail says as she turns up at Razen’s farmhouse the next day. Since Razen knows her parents work during the week and don’t mind Abigail not being at home, they’ve decided that Friday is the day that Abigail can spend most of the day at Razen’s. She loves being on the farm, even when Razen needs a hand doing the farm work, but by the looks of things her girlfriend has already finished the essential chores of today.

“What?” Razen asks, raising one eyebrow.

“Apparently someone saw you hauling out that giant salmon and started the rumour that there’s a whole bunch of giant fish living in the Cindersap Lake.”

“How would they even get there?” Razen asks, confused. “I was surprised enough by the salmon I found. If there’s more fish of that size in there, I’d be shocked.”

Abigail shrugs one shoulder. “That’s just what Seb said. Said that Maru told him, or something.”

Razen huffs out a laugh. “Interesting. Do you guys really talk about stuff like that and make it big?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Abigail says. “They’re all busybody’s, but with so few people in the valley there’s little for them to gossip about, so every little thing turns into a whole _thing._ ” She rolls her eyes. “When I dyed my hair they didn’t stop talking about it for a whole. Year. It was crazy.”

“Well, I can’t say I blame them,” Razen says offhandedly. “I think you look pretty cute with purple hair too.”

Abigail splutters and goes red. Razen laughs.

“Although I’m not sure that shade of purple and red go with each other…”

“Shut it,” Abigail says, nudging her gently. Razen laughs at her. Abigail can’t help but shake her head, but she laughs as well.

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Rumor or not (the fish of a tale remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20573120) by Anonymous 




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